The Next Judicial Fight
Insider would not even bet a cup of coffee against the proposition that Judge Sonia Sotomayor will be confirmed to the Supreme Court. Rightly or wrongly, that battle is effectively over, if in fact it ever truly began.
This, though, is important: The shocking news that the Chief Judge of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, Karen Williams of South Carolina has retired effective immediately on receiving a sad diagnosis of early Alzheimer’s disease (she is only 57) means that the balance of judges appointed by Republicans and Democrats on the Circuit will change even more dramatically and quickly than had been expected. One can expect a change in the court’s jurisprudence as well.
The Fourth Circuit (covering Maryland to South Carolina) has a well-deserved reputation of being the most conservative in the nation. Strong judges such as Williams, J. Harvey Wilkinson, and J. Michael Luttig have made the Fourth a court of sound legal reasoning and judicial restraint. Of the fifteen seats on the Fourth, several are vacant, and with Williams’ retirement, the Republican advantage is gone: Republicans and Democrats have now each appointed five sitting judges.
Finding a new judge acceptable to South Carolina’s two Republican Senators, who play an informal but crucial role in the process, may prove difficult. But one will eventually be found and likely confirmed.
The switch in the balance of appointments on the Fourth Circuit was bound to happen given the judges’ ages and Obama’s election. But no one expected it so soon. And there are few circuits actively competing for the title of “most conservative circuit.”
This is tragic news for Judge Williams and her family and terrible news for those committed to judicial restraint. Conservatives will miss the Fourth of the last decade.